Where's the love?

Last night was the Super Bowl. What was the best part? Not that the Patriots won AGAIN; definitely not that part. Not that it was the most boring Super Bowl that has been played in my lifetime so far. Not the commercials, although the one where Montana wouldn’t throw to “a Cowboy” was priceless. Not Tim McGraw playing pregame, although that was pretty darn awesome and they needed to televise more. Not the classy rendition of the National Anthem by the Empress of Soul.  Not even the Puppy Bowl and ya’ll know how much I love puppies!

My favorite part. The Halftime Show.  Go ahead, everyone start moaning now. Hear me out. 

I love Maroon 5 and I have always been a huge fan of Adam Levine’s. The only reason I still watch The Voice is because of Adam and I’ve seen Maroon 5 live twice (and both times were phenomenal).  I may have even dreamed about the man a few times (and not on purpose, thank you, but I did enjoy it). Was it the best Halftime Show I’ve ever seen? Of course not, but it was a hell of a lot better than Cold Play or Black Eyed Peas or Bruce Springsteen, or Beyonce (yep, I said it. She’s not my Queen) or any act that choses to lip sync.

 Honestly, no one can beat Prince, in my opinion. 

Herein lies my point. My opinion. Everyone has an opinion. Not just on the halftime performance but it seems like on every little blessed thing in this world AND everyone seems to think their opinion is the right one AND that they have to share it on social media AND they get angry if you don't agree with them. Most of the time the opinions that are shared are rude, disrespectful, derogatory and negative. We all have opinions but how about positive ones for a change? What happened to "if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all?" I'm so over everyone knocking everyone down. Where's the love? Where's the unity? Why is everyone so full of hate? Or is it they are just absent of love?

But I digress. Why was the Halftime Show my favorite part? Of course I love Adam’s voice and that smile would make a blind woman giddy.  M5 is a solid band and didn’t even begin to show its depth and talent during that short performance that, in my opinion, didn’t need the likes of Travis Scott or Big Boi. I would have rather heard Adam croon some more of his own tunes. Showing off his beautifully-tattooed torso and arms while movin’ like Jagger (although much more appealing to my eye than Mick ever was) was the icing on the cake for this girl. It’s just a shame that it had to end.

I could talk about my admiration for Adam Levine for days but there was one very important thing that resonated with me during that halftime performance.  Many wanted and even expected Adam to kneel during his performance or take advantage of being center stage and make some sort of protest. But instead, he vehemently refused to make this opportunity about politics. It was about the music and he said his music would speak for itself.  And that it did.

While performing, the huge Maroon 5 hit, “She Will Be Loved” (from their debut studio album in 2002), Adam made his point and it not only brought a huge smile to my face but an instant warmth to my heart and soul.  ONE LOVE in lights. We were all created out of love and our sole purpose as spiritual beings who are having a temporary human experience is to love.  Our life purpose isn’t about a career or material things as some may believe. Our life purpose is about passion and love. The haters and the skeptics and the media don’t want to talk about that though – they want drama and conflict and negativity. Well, guess what? Adam Levine wasn’t having any of that and, as a result, I have an even greater appreciation for him as not only an artist but as a human being.

As written by Adam Levine:

"When we accepted the responsibility to perform at the SBHTS, I took out my pen and just wrote. Some of the words that came to me in that moment eventually made their way onto the incredible lanterns that flew high and low tonight. We thank the universe for this historic opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage. We thank our fans for making our dreams possible. And we thank our critics for always pushing us to do better. One Love. ❤️

And the list of words is...
Forgive 
Laugh 

Cry 
Smile 
Share 
Live 
Endure 
Embrace 
Remember 
Enlighten 
Preserve 
Inspire 
Sweat 
Fight 
Express 
Give 
Receive 
Elevate 
Climb 
Unify 
Fortify 
Soften 
Dance 
Scream 
Dream 
Educate 
Provide 
Inhale 
Exhale 
Persevere 
Stand 
Kneel 
Overcome 
Love 
Listen"

Take a moment, go back and read each of those words again. Think about what those words mean in today's climate. Think about what those words mean to you in your life. Think about how powerful those words truly are - on their own and together. 

This was an incredible statement that Adam Levine chose to make on such a monumental night in sports and television.  Many, no, ALL of us, could learn a few things about compassion and love from this man.  We need more artists like him who not only have the means, but the opportunity, to invoke simple, yet extremely powerful, statements such as these in this world!